IGN has
a report up stating that the NBA has rejected an offer from Electronic Arts to
form an exclusive video game relationship with the pro basketball league in the
nature of EA's recent deal with the NFL (story). The economics
are cited as the obvious reason here: "One of the reasons is that the NBA Live
series simply doesn't have a stranglehold on the market the way Madden has for
years, so by signing an exclusive deal with EA, the NBA would actually be losing
money." The story also lays to rest fears that an exclusive baseball deal is on
deck:

Sources aren't quite as clear in terms of potential dealings with
Major League Baseball as a few publishers were worried a deal was already in
place for EA to step in and take over like they did with the NFL. But after the
EA/NFL deal went down, at least one publisher was able to re-up their MLB
contract for three more games, so it looks like a false alarm as the only
exclusive EA was able to lockup for the time being was the NFL.

EA are doing themselves no favours in the gaming community, infact it seems their last 12 months have been a nightmare for public relations. Greedy suits, thats all they are now, I remember when EA used to be a seal of quality, not anymore it seems.